Cars that drastically changed thier racing classes.

[Demon-Xanth]

In the HP/weight thread something came up that got me thinking...

The group B rally cars became so extreme so fast that the FIA couldn't rewrite the rulebook enough to keep them safe. AA/FA (aka: "rails") were outlawed because on a perfect run it looked like they were gonna wreck. What other cars were too good for their own sake in other series?

The one that really stands out are the Superbird/Daytona Charger, which triggered a series of changes in NASCAR rulebooks, including a drop from 7L big blocks to 5L small blocks, that have made an effect on the sport that stands to this day.

Other ones that come to mind are the turbine Indy cars in 1967 that were virtually outlawed when their inlet size was reduced by 75% and AWD/4WD was ruled out. (it showed promise even though their original implementations were a bit unreliable). The 1994 pushrod engine that Mercedes made that raced for I think just three races before a rule change made it obsolete and uncompetitive.

Potentially you could call Don Garlitz's rear engine dragster as one, but it didn't re-write the rulebook, rather it caused everyone to follow the lead.

 

[mwmorph]

Porsche 917/30
"The car sometimes cited for killing canam racing."

The 917/30 was the most powerful sports car racer ever built and raced. The 5.4 litre 12 cylinder twin-turbocharged engine could produce 1500 bhp with twin turbochargers run up to full boost, a simply astonishing 39 p.s.i, though it usually raced with around 1100bhp to preserve the engine. The 917/30 dominated in the CanAm series during the 1973 season. The 917/30 could go from 0-60 mph in 1.9 seconds, 0-100 in 3.9 seconds and 0-200 in 10.9 seconds and on to a top speed of 245 mph+. These staggering levels of performance, the attendant fuel thirst of the engines, and ever increasing risk, has led to the 917/30 sometimes being cited as the car that killed CanAm racing.

Mosler Consulier/Intruder/Raptor

The Consulier GTP competed successfully in many races for the next six years, before being banned by the IMSA in 1991.

The newly named Mosler Automotive introduced the Intruder, a rebodied Consulier with a new 300 hp GM LT1 engine. This car raced at the 24 hours of Nelson Ledges for two consecutive years, winning both years - unfortunately, the Intruder was also banned after its dominating 1993-4 performances.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Ahh, I had forgotten about Can-am. When Porsche came in with 1100HP when everyone else had 700-800HP, well, there's no point in watching the race.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Lotus 7. Banned from racing in several different series at different times because it outran everything else in its displacement class.

Anyone ever see the old T-Shirts with the "Lotus 7: Too Fast to Race"?

ZV

 

[Summitdrinker]

nascar wise the 426 hemi in 1964, banned after 1/2 a season or so, also at about the same time ford's cammer hemi banned after a few races, which ended it chance of anything near being called a production engine. mopar was also working on overhead cam hemi proto types, but dropped it since nascar would never allow them to race, thou using it as indy motor was considered.

I have heard older guys say nascar was never the same after the 426 hemi's first race.
first race results, hemi took 1-2-3 green blocks and all

but chevy got away with running there 427 mark block years before a single one was sold to the public

later in 1966 the hemi was back, but it was choked down with resrictor plates on and off for a while

also like the OP's already stated the Superbird/Daytona along with fords areo bodies at the same time, banned unless they used the 5.0 L engine when everything else could run 7.0 L

 

[GoatMonkey]

The Williams-Renault of the early 90's comes to mind for me. Awesome technology that was banned by the end of the 1993 season. Active suspension, traction control, ABS, etc...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williams_FW14B
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williams_FW15C

The sucker car, Chaparral 2J...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaparral_Cars

"the back of the 2J housed two large 17-inch fans driven by a 45hp snowmobile engine. The purpose of the fans was to 'suck' air from under the car and propel it out the back. This gave the car tremendous gripping power and enabled greater maneuverability at all speeds, which cannot be achieved by simpler aerodynamic devices such as diffusers and wings. Since it created the same amount of vacuum under the car at all speeds, down-force did not decrease at lower speeds. With other aerodynamic devices, down-force decreases as the car slows down or achieves too much of a slip angle, both of which were not problems for the 'sucker car'." ... "It ran for only one racing season in 1970 as its technology was quickly outlawed by the SCCA"

1976 Tyrrell P34 - The 6 wheeled F1 car...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrrell_P34

 

[Summitdrinker]

how about the 62 thru 64 max wedge mopar b bodies for drag racing, they were the fastest super stockers for a while until the ford thunderbolt and it's child the 426 hemi came out
the max wedges forced ford and GM to respond, but one thing these cars changed was new respect for mopars and the automatic transmission for drag racing
max wedges were affordable and available to the average Joe, unlike many of the other highend super stockers at the time

 

[overst33r]

Chaparral 2J

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaparral_Cars